Bear Attacks Pennsylvania Woman Who Shielded Dog Outside Home: 'I Honestly Didn't Think I Was Going to Make It'

“This is the first bear attack we’ve had in our area, it’s a pretty rare incident,” said Butler Township police chief John Hays

A 55-year-old woman was attacked and injured by a bear in Butler Township, Pa. on Tuesday evening, reports The Butler Eagle, WTAE, Go Erie and CBS News.

The bear attacked victim Lee Ann Galante and her dog, Smokey, when she let her dog outside of her house on Bellefield Drive in Butler around 8:30 p.m. Before first responders arrived, Galante suffered lacerations to her head and one to her arm and was bleeding excessively. First responders controlled her bleeding upon arrival.

Galante’s dog was not injured, but Galante was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital and later Allegheny General Hospital. Galante is being treated for puncture wounds and lacerations to her head, neck, face, and arm, as well as broken bones in her face, per her surgeon, Dr. Jennifer Chen, reports CBS News.

"It was very terrifying," Galante told CBS. "I honestly didn't think I was going to make it. I couldn't believe this was happening."

Related: How to Prevent Bear Attacks and What to Do If a Bear Approaches You, According to Experts

"She came up behind me and she pushed me down, and my face went smack right into our cement," explained Galante of the mother bear and her three cubs.

"Then she got me by the back of the head and she was pulling so hard on it I thought I was going to get scalped," she said.

She shared that she believes her dog Smokey distracted the mother bear, allowing her to run into her home for survival. "She was ready to charge again. Thank God we got in the house," Galante said.

Related: Man Survives Bear Attack — the Second in a Colorado Town in Less Than 2 Months

“The mama bear started getting aggressive while we were here, and she was euthanized by the Pennsylvania Game Commission," Butler Township police Sgt. Thomas Vensel said, per WTAE. "The three cubs were tranquilized and are currently being transported to be dropped off at an unknown location."

Game Commission spokesperson Travis Lau said that the cubs could be euthanized or “tagged and transferred to the game lands, or Allegheny National Forest up in the center part of the region.”

"But I'm leaning more towards caution and probably euthanizing these cubs to test them for rabies just in case," said Lau, per WTAE.

“This is the first bear attack we’ve had in our area, it’s a pretty rare incident,” said Butler Township police chief John Hays, reports Go Erie. "We get reports of bears quite often in the spring and the fall. I wouldn’t say we have a high concentration of bears, but they do come through."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Butler Township Police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Wednesday.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.